Dangerous Goofball Squad, The Connecticut State Police

At roll call, police officers usually discuss crime sprees in the communities they patrol. But at Troop G in Bridgeport, it hasn't been uncommon for troopers to question a spate of thefts and vandalism going on in their own building.

For the past two years or so, things have been disappearing from one of the state's busiest barracks, which covers the dangerous I-95 corridor from Branford to the New York border.

The missing items range from paychecks taken from troopers' mail slots to an LED light bar worth $2,000. In some cases, it hasn't been determined whether some items were taken or merely misplaced. Other objects of a more personal nature, such as family photos and nameplates, went missing from the sergeant's office, sources within the department said.

In other cases, a rat trap was left in a trooper's cubby space, and a nameplate was defaced with graffiti.

Though the thefts were discussed in-house, they apparently were not reported to upper management until internal affairs investigators were sent to the barracks in November after a menacing note and a bullet with a sergeant's badge number engraved into it were left in a supervisor's desk drawer.

Col. Thomas Davoren, state police commander, said an ongoing investigation began with the bullet incident. He said Maj. Warren Hyatt Jr., the western district commander and an experienced investigator, is leading the inquiry.

"Obviously, Maj. Hyatt is concerned because he is running the investigation down," Davoren said Thursday. "He did speak to people and has reason to believe that there is validity to some of the complaints. That is why he is drilling into it very aggressively."

Davoren, citing the investigation, declined to answer specific questions about items that were missing. He said the investigation into the bullet incident remains active.

The investigation comes about a year after the New York State Police and the Connecticut attorney general's office issued a report detailing misconduct by Connecticut troopers that was not properly handled by the department's internal affairs unit. More recently, some of the whistle-blowers in that probe said they were being retaliated against for their role in it.

"It's troubling to hear that information is [circulating] out there," union President Steven Rief said, adding that he hadn't been made aware of the incidents. "Obviously, we wouldn't condone any type of theft. It would be troubling to hear there was such an accusation."

Sources within the barracks said that the thefts were discussed at roll calls at various times, but that no one was ever formally identified as a suspect, although it was assumed it was someone who worked inside the barracks.

"It shouldn't happen in a professional work environment," Davoren said.

Meanwhile, with talk of a management shake-up at the Bridgeport barracks, some troopers said the incidents and investigations are hurting morale.

"I'm disgusted to think stuff like this is occurring and being allowed to occur within a state police building," said a trooper who asked not to be identified. "We're supposed to uphold the law."Contact Tracy Gordon Fox at tfox@courant.com.

text with video:Police Misconduct Complaints go un-investigated, complainers are targets for rape, beatings, false arrests, false imprisonment and worse. This testimony in front of the Connecticut Legislative body in Dec. 1996 shows how bad it was, and it is only worse now, COMPLETELY DISGUSTING.Ritt Goldstein talks about Police Misconduct and the need for Civilian Oversight of Police to prevent brutality and other crimes. He and others speak in front of legislators at the Judiciary Committee hearing room Hartford Connecticut Capitol.

[click here] for Ritt Goldstien's complete video from that hearing in Hartford Connecticut. Ritt soon after fled to Sweden seeking political asylum, so terrorized by the Connecticut Police for having proposed Civilian Oversight of Police.

* * * *

State police internal affairs unit blasted; criminal charges could result from scathing report

The office of the state's top prosecutor is reviewing more than 19 inadequately investigated internal affairs cases involving state police for possible criminal charges - including drunken driving, assault, drug use, and bribery - as the governor called for an independent commission to oversee change at the Public Safety Department after a scathing report released Monday.

The 207-page report is the upshot of a 13-month joint investigation conducted by the state attorney general's office and the New York State Police, who were called in by public safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle after the state police union raised complaints of unfair treatment in internal investigations.

The inquiry reviewed 64 cases, highlighting 19 in the report as "clear-cut illustrations of the systemic problems identified" in the evaluation.

"There are an array of serious and potentially criminal activities" detailed in the report, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

Among the most egregious cases highlighted are:

* A state trooper who "racked" his shotgun - activating the ammunition with a loud, distinct noise - while in a crowded Bradley International Airport terminal in order to intimidate an airline manager. The trooper was verbally reprimanded but no internal affairs probe was initiated.

* A state trooper who had seven alcohol-related incidents, of which three included threats of suicide and four involved possible drunken driving. In at least two of the incidents, the trooper was found passed out and slumped over the wheel of his state-issued car with the engine running. The first time he was found in the parking lot of a strip club, and in the second incident he was found on an Interstate 84 ramp on the New York border. In each incident the trooper was either taken home to his family or to a hospital for commitment, but no arrest was made or internal investigation conducted. He is now on desk duty.

* Incomplete or inadequate investigations into allegations that a state trooper was illegally using and distributing narcotics out of a casino and cavorting with prostitutes there. After a change in leadership, the unit was directed to drop the case.

* State troopers who allegedly bribed the civilian overtime coordinator with cash and gifts of jewelry in order to receive more plum assignments. In the investigation it was found that one state trooper overcharged the state $8,000 by falsifying documents. The trooper, who has since retired, only recently returned the money, but the civilian employees have yet to be investigated.

* An "open competition" among troopers at one barracks to see who could net the most drunken-driving arrests. Out of 500 arrests, only 14 of the mandatory videotapes survived the evidentiary process.

* The sexual assault of an airport maintenance worker by a trooper who is accused of molesting and rubbing up against the worker in an inappropriate way.

The accused troopers aren't named in the report, as the investigations into the incidents will be reopened.

A recurring and disturbing theme throughout each of the cases is the clear attempt by investigating officers to discredit a complainant "in any manner possible so that the allegations against their member may be dismissed without an appropriate investigation," the report states, adding it was a "typical tactic."

In many cases, evidence that could be harmful to the trooper's case would be excluded, while information damaging to the accuser would be found in detail.

The report concludes the Internal Affairs Unit didn't deliberately issue false reports or corrupt the investigation process, as the state police union alleged - but did, due to orders from superiors, fail to document important information and exhaust all leads. In some cases, investigators also were told to ignore physical and circumstantial evidence to focus on less serious allegations.

The report names several high-ranking officials who had some involvement in directing internal affairs investigations inappropriately, including the public safety commissioner, Boyle; the head of the state police, Col. Edward J. Lynch, who announced his retirement on Friday; Lynch's chief of staff, Lt. William Podgorski; Lt. Col. Vincent McSweeney; and Capt. Michael Guillot, who supervised the internal affairs unit before being removed when the investigation commenced.

"The net results of these actions were inadequate reports that led to inaccurate conclusions rather than deliberately falsified reports," the report states. "The result of these flawed investigations was that when an employee may have been deserving of discipline or even arrest, no action, or inappropriate action, was taken."

Confusion over who or what should be investigated also led to an 84 percent decline in the number of internal affairs investigations over the years, from 288 in 1991 to 46 in 2005, the report states.

"While we would like to believe that this decline is a direct result of a decreasing number of complaints and incidents of misconduct, every indicator we found points to an increasing disinclination to formally investigate the complaints received as the real reason for the decrease in these investigations," the report states.

According to Boyle, who requested the outside investigation following allegations from the union and whistleblower complaints, the unit "unfortunately lapsed into investigating complaints in an informal manner."

The vast majority of Connecticut's 1,200 state troopers do their jobs well, but "sometimes, people made judgment calls. Sometimes, people were derelict in their duties," he said.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell called on Boyle to set up an independent commission that will oversee change at the department.

"We now know that lax and less-than-professional procedures have tainted internal affairs investigations within the Connecticut State Police," she said. "Connecticut's reputation for having the finest state police in the nation must be protected and maintained."

The report makes more than 60 recommendations, most of which include more funding. Among them are better training, higher ranks for investigators, and better facilities and equipment.

The ‘100 Club’ for making DUI arrests

Just another example of across the board breaking of the law by Connecticut Police, collecting revenue, abusing citizens, and acting like a bunch of complete assholes. Connecticut Culture of Corruption include police, the judiciary, the DCF, all departments, all Commissioners, all branches of government in Connecticut. Official misconduct is considered an art form. All Federal Taxpayers are being defrauded by Official Connecticut. You, are being ripped off, what are YOU going to do?There are good people that are working on the taxpayer’s dime in Connecticut, the problem is that they side with the official abusers too often out of fear of retaliation and having their lives dismantled just as citizens that get "mouthy" get barbecued, ruined, arrested, and falsely thrown in prison. The Connecticut court system is a national embarrassment. Eminent Domain came out of Connecticut to be heard in the US Supreme Court. It would not have been if the Connecticut court system were not so crooked, it is plain a simple, just a whorehouse. Someone needs to challenge all court cases ever heard as they are all suspect. Eminent Domain should be challenged. Official Connecticut should be shut down until it is Constitutional and Americanized.

Troopers Ran `100 Club' For DWI ArrestsDecember 6, 2006By TRACY GORDON FOX, Hartford Courant Staff Writer It was an "open competition" for some troopers on the midnight shift at the Bethany barracks three years ago.

The game was to make enough drunken driving arrests to qualify for the "100 Club" - 100 arrests for the year. But following the rules often didn't matter. Nor did whether the driver was really drunk.

Troopers were supposed to videotape arrests. Often they didn't. They mishandled evidence. They even counseled motorists against taking the breathalyzer, warning them they would spend more time in the police lockup if they chose to exercise their rights.

Of the 19 examples of botched investigations by the state police internal affairs division, its handling of a probe into Troop I's so-called 100 Club "had the most direct result on members of the general public," according to a damning 168-page report made public Monday.

The report concluded that the internal affairs investigation should have probed improper arrest procedures in drunken driving cases.

But it was done "in such a haphazard manner that it would be impossible to determine whether or not employee misconduct occurred."

On Tuesday, Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said they would review drunken driving cases in the 14 towns covered by the Bethany barracks.

According to the report by Blumenthal's office and the New York State Police, troopers on the midnight shift at the Bethany barracks made so many arrests on drunken driving charges in 2003 that they were awarded a unit citation for being the DWI enforcement leader for all four state police troops in the central district.

But, at about the same time, suspects charged with drunken driving in the Bethany area began complaining to prosecutors that they were counseled by state troopers not to take the breathalyzer test that would prove whether they were drunk, according to the report.

Although a routine inspection by state police identified improper arrest procedures, including failure to collect evidence, that may have affected the rights of suspects and possibly the outcome of their cases, internal affairs investigators failed to properly look into the misconduct, the report said.

Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane is reviewing the report, including allegations raised about the Bethany barracks, he said.

Kane said Tuesday that he was not aware of concerns raised about drunken driving cases until he read the report.

"I've got the whole document now," Kane said. "We are in the process of reviewing it and will come up with what has to be done."

Blumenthal said Tuesday that his office would also review cases out of the Bethany barracks "to determine what additional investigation is appropriate."

"There were clear indications of very severe misconduct, and none of it was properly investigated," he said. "If there are cases that need to be reviewed, involving DWI cases, we would do so."

"Potentially, every motor vehicle suspension is subject to being reviewed," Sullivan said of the cases investigated by Bethany. "What should happen now is that the state should anticipate lawyers will be coming forward. It's absolutely outrageous."

"If the case is still pending, you are in great shape," said Gerald Klein, a defense attorney who handles many cases involving drunken driving charges. He said state police reports are usually thorough.

"I always thought the cops tell you they want you to take the breathalyzer," Klein said. "That sounds ludicrous that anyone in law enforcement would do that."

There were 500 drunken driving cases made in 2003 by Bethany troopers, a high number for any troop, but only 14 tapes from onboard cameras were recorded as evidence, the report said.

According to the report, paperwork was late and some of the cases failed to document probable cause for arrest, the inspection found.

It also raised questions about the administration of chemical tests to determine a defendant's blood alcohol level, and, in some cases, found chain-of-custody problems with urine samples.

The case is one of the egregious examples of managerial interference with an investigation, the report said.

The department's inspection unit, which has the task of checking that procedures are followed, "appropriately sounded the alarm."

"But that alarm was promptly and improperly silenced" by other supervisors in internal affairs, the report said.

Because of the inspection, an internal affairs investigation was conducted in 2004 but limited to one trooper, according to the New York report.

The trooper, who left the department for the FBI after 2004, returned to the state police and is now working a narcotics detail, sources said Tuesday.

The report said investigating only one trooper was "highly unusual, particularly in light of the findings of the inspection report that raised similar questions about other troopers."

That "was ample justification to give credibility to the inspection report and implicate other troopers who worked the midnight shift," the report concluded.

Internal affairs investigators made no attempt to contact or interview any of the people who refused a breath test, to determine if they were pressured to do so.

Union President Steven Rief said the focus of the report was "how command staff was involved and interfering with investigations."

"This is not representative of the majority of the troopers," Rief said of the report, but he added that changes must be made to ensure other investigations are not botched. "Only when there is fairness and objectivity can we have confidence in the system and integrity can be restored."

Contact Tracy Gordon Fox at tfox@courant.com.

* * * *

EDITORIALS (The Hartford Courant)

Police ShieldDecember 6, 2006

The job of state police is to protect the public. But the predilection of too many Connecticut troopers is to protect their own.

That's the conclusion of a disturbing report by a team from the Connecticut state attorney general's office and New York State Police. It charges Connecticut state police with dereliction of duty when it comes to patrolling themselves.

The governor has already, to her credit, ordered an independent commission to oversee reform. The commissioner of public safety deserves the most credit, however, for asking his New York counterpart for the evaluation in October 2005.

The team studied complaints against 19 of the state's 1,200 state police. The investigators included a half-dozen people from the state attorney general's office and nearly a dozen from the New York State Police. They held 262 interviews.

Bringing in out-of-state investigators from a respected police force was smart. Their evaluation (at www.courant.com/local) can't be accused of playing politics or taking sides in the war between the police union and the commanders.

The team found that state police at all levels dismissed evidence and discredited witnesses, often to cover up for colleagues. Troopers failed time and again to file reports against fellow troopers suspected of wrongdoing.

For example, supervisors failed to turn over to internal affairs an off-duty trooper who allegedly beat his girlfriend, tore her earlobe and then threatened her in front of another trooper. The off-duty trooper was never disciplined. The team's study calls the investigation of that incident "inexcusably inadequate."

A trooper accused of grinding his crotch against an airport worker tried to intimidate the woman during the investigation of that incident, she claimed. The crotch incident could not be substantiated; the intimidation claim was never investigated.

One trooper who was caught passed out in his car several times was never arrested for obvious drunken driving.

A sergeant who submitted false overtime claims of $5,227 received a light sentence of five days' suspension. Incredibly, he was allowed to keep the money. There was no criminal investigation.

Sadly, there are many more stories of police malfeasance. The team found "ineffective discipline" in "many other cases that were reviewed, including those of a possibly criminal nature."

Misconduct was dismissed or excused so often that the rare trooper who was investigated by internal affairs felt unfairly singled out. If anything, the command staff shielded their employees from discipline, letting them get away with serious misbehavior.

Such a scalding report impugns the integrity of a department with a distinguished history. Restoring the public's confidence and the state police's professionalism will require a stronger, autonomous internal affairs unit.

[click here] for Stephen Murzin discussing what is wrong with Connecticut and Connecticut Police. He is a police officer's son and was pulled out of his Hartford Police Officer Father's house in retaliation. His 17 year old brother Ian was allegedly strangled to death by a Connecticut State Police Officer, then revived. * * * *

Probes into the Connecticut State Police Internal Affairs

The Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Police have long been out of hand. Sure there are good officers, but the good ones say little, no matter what the bad ones do. That hopefully will change.

PUBLIC SAFETY Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle responds to a report about the state police internal affairs unit. State Police Col. Edward Lynch is at left, and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is at right.(MICHAEL MCANDREWS)

Dec. 4, 2006

Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant

POLITICSChief Who Improved Capitol Force Retires After Cleaning Up A Messy Department, Police Vet Plans To Put Law Degree To Good UseDecember 1, 2006 By CHRISTOPHER KEATING, Capitol Bureau Chief

It was the darkest chapter for the state Capitol police. The chief had been ousted in a controversy over workplace harassment that included striking an officer with a wooden "caning" stick and referring to a female officer as a "Nazi" because she had a German surname.

Former chief Anthony Murphy, who eventually retired in 1995 with a pension and full medical benefits, presided over a department where intoxicated officers drove cruisers and sometimes threw staplers at each other, according to a state police report.

He set a bulletin board on fire after a night of drinking and referred to a black supervising officer with a racial slur, the report said.But those days are over, in part because of the efforts of William Morgan, one of the department veterans who helped turn the department around.Morgan retired Thursday after more than six years as chief and after a series of accomplishments that included gaining state and national accreditation for the department.

Only about 15 departments in Connecticut have national accreditation.

"Clearly, we've come a long way," Morgan said Thursday.

"The organizational structure is sound. The command structure is sound. I think we've done a lot of great things - one of them being the relationship-building with the legislators, the staff, the media and even the people who come here for demonstrations."

Morgan, who turns 47 on Sunday, obtained a law degree taking night classes at Quinnipiac University while working as a sergeant. Since passing the bar exam, Morgan has kept it in the back of his mind that he would one day return to the Capitol as a lawyer-lobbyist working with legislators.

He has not yet completed his plans, but he is exploring working as an adjunct professor teaching about law enforcement.After 21 years with the Capitol police, Morgan has seen the good times and the bad. He is particularly proud of the department's first national accreditation in 2002 and its re-accreditation in March. The department also received accreditation at the state level for the first time in June.

Known for his gregarious nature and his reluctance to criticize others publicly, Morgan chose his words carefully when discussing a department many believed was out of control a decade ago.

Before 1995, the department had been run under a confusing, hybrid method. The boss was a state police sergeant who reported to that agency - even though the rest of the officers, including supervisors, were legislative employees. Following the revelations about the bizarre behavior and harassment, the General Assembly then changed the structure to ensure that the Capitol commander would report directly to top lawmakers.

"The legislature discovered in 1995 that the department wasn't taking a professional approach," Morgan said.

"It was an overall lack of professionalism. There were enough problems that required a drastic solution."

The new Capitol commander, former Hartford assistant chief Michael J. Fallon, is scheduled to be sworn in today after a 22-year career with the Hartford police.

Morgan says Fallon will be taking over a department that is committed to moving forward in the future and "not going back to being an embarrassment for the legislature."

A scathing 168-page report on the state police internal affairs unit has found the very structure designed to promote integrity within the department to be riddled with misconduct and improper influence.

Some of the 19 internal affairs cases investigated by the New York State Police may lead to criminal charges or disciplinary action against troopers involved in sexual assaults, domestic violence, drunk driving and larceny, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

The report, which calls for an overhaul of the unit, prompted Gov. M. Jodi Rell to order an independent commission to oversee its reform and an outcry from other public officials to eliminate what some perceive as corruption within the state police.

Released during a press conference Monday, the report points the finger at top managers and raises questions about the ability of the department's elite major crime squad to investigate criminal allegations that arose in some internal affairs cases. In several instances, the major crime squad failed to properly document or complete cases.

Responding to the worst black eye for the department since a 1989 scandal involving illegal taping of prisoners, a grim-faced Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle took responsibility for the problems outlined in the yearlong investigation.

"I'm responsible for everything that happens and responsible for trying to fix it," Boyle said.

Blumenthal thanked state troopers who came forward "to make complaints about a system that is dysfunctional, in disarray, and ultimately discredited."

"More importantly than what we call it is what we do about it," he said. He turned the report over to Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane for investigation.

Col. Edward Lynch, commander of the state police, who announced his retirement Friday, said the timing had nothing to do with the report. He said he is taking a job in the private sector.

Rell ordered Boyle to set up a commission that will include expertise from outside the state police to oversee systemic reforms."This is necessary so that we may have an unbiased and professional group charged with transforming the internal affairs process," Rell said in a statement.

"I am deeply concerned by the troubling practices exposed by this report and am firmly committed to reforms that will ensure they never occur again."

Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan, who has been critical of state police management, said Boyle properly called in an outside agency to do the investigation.

"[The report] says there is a culture gap between the expectation of modern police management and the historical clubhouse nature of the state police," Sullivan said.

"This blows the lid off the clubhouse."

Investigators from the New York State Police, a department recognized internationally as a leader in internal affairs, found that Connecticut's state police command staff improperly interfered with and influenced internal affairs cases, and that citizens' complaints were regarded as nuisances rather than legitimate cases warranting investigation.

Col. Joseph Loszynski, deputy superintendent of the New York State Police who led the investigation, said the report and recommendations should lay a foundation for a new era. He said 11 New York investigators conducted 262 interviews, and spent 9,500 hours on the investigation.

Loszynski and the team of investigators issued more than 60 recommendations, including making the internal affairs division completely autonomous, and having its supervisor hold the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher. The report recommends a centralized complaint system for the public, including a way to make complaints via the Internet. Rell also ordered a 24-hour complaint hot line.

Some recommendations already have been implemented, Boyle said, and others will be soon.

Blumenthal's office worked jointly with New York investigators and released a separate report of 11 whistleblower cases that were brought to his attention. The report names several managers who had some involvement in internal affairs cases. Mentioned by name or rank were: Boyle; Lynch; Lt. William Podgorski, Lynch's chief of staff; Lt. Col. Vincent McSweeney; and Capt. Michael Guillot, who supervised the internal affairs unit before he was removed.

New York officials found no evidence of anyone in the command structure purposefully trying to harm or improperly target any employee for launching an internal affairs investigation, as was initially claimed by the state police union.

What New York found was far worse than what state police union members had anticipated. The report criticized the actions of rank and file troopers as much as it did command staff.

"In numerous cases reviewed, supervisors or command staff directed investigators to ignore evidence, limit the scope of their investigation to the point of not following obvious leads, not open or pursue a case that was already being investigated by an outside agency or not open an administrative case with strong evidence of misconduct if a separate criminal investigation did not find proof," the report says.

Neither prompt nor appropriate action was taken against a state trooper involved in seven alcohol-related incidents, four of which involved possible drunken driving in his cruiser and his personal car, and other instances that involved suicide threats and medical treatment for alcohol. One sergeant who responded to several incidents was a close friend of the trooper and protected him.

Although the trooper was found to have violated department standards - conduct unbecoming an officer and improper drug or alcohol use - Guillot, former internal affairs unit supervisor, directed a sergeant to "delete or change all references to suicide threats and medical treatment" in the official internal affairs report.

Coincidentally, during the course of the New York investigation, that same trooper was stopped by a New York State Trooper who, while on patrol near the Connecticut border on I-84, noticed a car parked on a ramp, with the driver passed out behind the wheel. The trooper realized he was in Connecticut and called Connecticut state police. The Connecticut trooper was never arrested for drunken driving and no official report was made.

Four separate internal affairs investigations remain open in the case of the trooper.

The trooper was never arrested; his license was suspended but later reinstated. He was suspended and placed on light duty.

At one troop, an "open competition" existed among some troopers over who could make the most drunken-driving arrests on the midnight shift. A report in February 2004 conducted by the department's own inspection unit raised questions about improprieties in the administration of tests to determine a suspect's blood-alcohol level, and that troopers might be improperly encouraging suspects to refuse breath tests.

Several DWI suspects had complained to prosecutors that the troopers told them they would be released from the barracks lockup earlier if they refused the test, but if they took it, would have to post bail and remain in custody longer. Refusing the test results in easier convictions.

When the internal affairs unit was brought into the case, it investigated only one trooper in connection with the allegations. They interviewed none of the hundreds of citizens who were arrested for DWI to determine whether there were irregularities in their arrests or processing.

"It demonstrates the tendency of some command staff to exclude certain personnel as targets of investigations," the report says, adding that this case had the most direct effect on the public.

Sgt. Jae Fontanella was found guilty in an internal affairs investigation of submitting false documentation for overtime hours worked in the amount of $5,227.24. He received a five-day suspension.

In a whistleblower case reported to Blumenthal, it was alleged that Fontanella received light discipline because he was a close friend of Lynch and because he reinvestigated a highly controversial 1999 automobile accident "involving a person with strong political connections."

Fontanella was one of the troopers who investigated the death of prominent Hartford-area businessman Neil Esposito, who was killed in 1999 on Route 9 near the junction of I-91 in Cromwell. Police initially said Esposito was driving, but changed their story.

New York investigators were stunned the department did not pursue criminal charges for the more than 11 counts of falsifying records, and New York state police said the discipline imposed "was grossly insufficient in relation to the seriousness of the conduct."

"The department allowed Sgt. Fontanella to keep the proceeds of his fraudulent action rather than requiring him to repay the overtime received for unverified hours," the report says.

Fontanella is now commander of the accident reconstruction unit, which investigates motor vehicle fatalities.

State police failed to properly investigate allegations by a defense attorney that a trooper on the statewide narcotics task force had been paid $2,000 to $5,000 a month to protect a drug dealer. No case number was ever assigned and no report filed.

There were several instances of domestic violence by troopers for which there were no arrests or discipline, the report says.

Union President Steven Rief said the union asked for the investigation, but it reaped more than any one expected.

"Apparently, it was well-founded. Where was the oversight with management?" he said.

A discussion of this story with Courant Staff Writer Tracy Gordon Fox is scheduled to be shown on New England Cable News each hour today between 9 a.m. and noon.

* * * *

AP STATE WIRE

Report: Investigations of complaints against troopers inadequateDecember 5, 2006Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state police failed to adequately investigate serious allegations against troopers, including one who allegedly gambled with a suspected drug dealer and another accused of holding a gun to his wife's head, according to a report released Monday.

The Connecticut State Police internal affairs unit is a "system that is dysfunctional, in disarray and ultimately discredited," said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose office conducted a 13-month investigation with the New York State Police.

In some cases, troopers were merely reprimanded. In others, no reports were filed. Often, supervisors did not report problems to the internal affairs unit and conducted perfunctory investigations that generated few or no results.

Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle requested the outside investigation after police union complaints. He said the state police had lapsed into an informal system of handling allegations against troopers.

The 207-page report makes more than 60 recommendations, including requiring the unit to document and investigate all complaints and prohibiting supervisors from intervening.

In one incident described in the report, a trooper assigned to Bradley International Airport was only admonished for allegedly activating the ammunition rack on his shotgun to intimidate an airline supervisor. No internal affairs probe was conducted.

The internal affairs unit also did not investigate after a trooper known to be a high roller at Mohegan Sun Casino was accused of associating with a suspected drug dealer there. According to the report, the trooper was also seen passing around a marijuana cigarette with a group of teenagers at a casino worker's home and entering a hotel room at Mohegan Sun with two alleged prostitutes.

In another case, a trooper's wife accused him of twice holding his police-issued firearm to her head and threatening to kill her. He was also accused of choking her with a belt, striking and punching her. The internal affairs unit opened a case after the woman sought a restraining order.

But Col. Edward J. Lynch, head of the state police, and a major said they had trouble believing the allegations because the trooper was a "good kid."

The woman's 10-year-old daughter drew a picture of the trooper holding the gun to her mother's head, but command officers dismissed her statement because they thought her mother may have coached her.

After another incident, the trooper's commander sent the trooper's first cousin, a state police sergeant, to check on him.

According to the report, the commander "focused on the trooper's welfare rather than attempting to determine if he had committed any violations of law or Connecticut State Police policy and did not attempt to ascertain the welfare of the victim."

The trooper was suspended for 60 days and required to attend anger management classes.

Blumenthal said he is forwarding the report to the chief state's attorney's office but believes shoddy investigations of some cases might make it difficult to pursue criminal charges.

Some cases will be investigated further by the state police, who have already made major changes to the six-member unit. For example, a trooper must be at least a lieutenant to qualify for membership.

Steve Reif, president of the state police union, said the department is anxiously awaiting the report. He said he is pleased with the reforms made already by the commissioner.

"We feel we are one of the best state police agencies in the country," Reif said. "We certainly don't want to have this cloud hanging over us anymore than anyone else does."

Lynch, the head of the state police, announced Friday that he is retiring Jan. 1 to take a security position in private industry. A replacement has not been named. Lynch, who appeared at the news conference to unveil the report, said the investigation had nothing to do with his retirement.

Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell called on Boyle to set up a new commission with outside experts to oversee the reforms.

"We now know that lax and less-than-professional procedures have tainted internal affairs investigations within the Connecticut State Police," she said. "Connecticut's reputation for having the finest state police in the nation must be protected and maintained."

Barbara D. Sattal, did she refer to Davoren, formerly the head honcho over at Connecticut State Police, Troop C, as "Dad"? Sattal was allegedly offered $10,000 to set me up for an arrest. The original plan was for her to get me to drink alcohol, drive her Chevrolet Blazer to my house where I would be pulled over, beaten, and then charged with DUI, assaulting officers, drug possession (as drugs would be planted), resisting arrest, etc. [click here] for post.

If you are out protesting or complaining about Connecticut Police Misconduct, is this the goon squad that is out to get your photo and name for the Connecticut State Police "Enemies List" where you are a click away from having your life ruined?

..............The above is enhanced from the figure in the window below..

Connecticut knew Bernie Sullivan as Mr. Clean--the man brought in to lead state police in the wake of a spying scandal in 1989.

He lived in the spotlight. He ran Hartford's police force, then the state's police force--and, later on, the Speaker's office at the state House of Representatives.

Now, three years after he thought he'd slipped away from the spotlight into private life, Sullivan has returned to the public eye--at the center of Connecticut's current corruption scandals.He's the public face of the Tomasso family's construction empire, the focus of a federal investigation into state government bribery and bid-rigging. It has been Sullivan's job to swing back at critics, answer some allegations, not answer others. He's also running two of Tomasso's companies and wrestling with the state over questionable government payments.

And he's been dragged into the state treasurer's bribery scandal because of his previous job, running then-state House Speaker Tom Ritter's office.

Sullivan wrote that he was "get[ting] out of the fish bowl of public life" three years ago when he left government for the Tomasso job.

"God made me bite my tongue on that one," he said in a conversation last week.

His journey from lawman to Democratic chief of staff to point man for a company intimately connected to a Republican governor illustrates the power structure at the root of Rowland/Silvester-gate.

It's not about Republicans versus Democrats.

It's not about business versus government.

It's about one insider team. With one concern above all: Who gets paid.

I was fired from my job working as an insurance adjuster in disaster areas like this because I have a criminal and prison record for pepper spraying a police informant encouraged to attack me and harass me out of Connecticut:

Friday, September 23, 2005

Life Altering Photos

This hotel in the background in Gulfport, Mississippi, is now see through.

A Dream house, guest house, workshop/garage, and a life's work all gone. This picture was taken yesterday 300 yards from the beach. Neighbors were chainsawing neighbors and family live and dead from under the rubble in Waveland, Mississippi.

Click on pictures to make larger.

Should I never have a decent job or place to live in my own name again because I am a victim of Police, Prosecutorial, Attorney, and Judicial Misconduct in Connecticut?

* * * *

The former selectman of Stafford, Connecticut, allegedly posted police guards to keep me out of public forum meetings to prevent my Free Speech at the Town Hall. March 21, 2006, I was at the State Capitol in Hartford Connecticut. Frassinelli saw me and pointed me out to the Connecticut State Police Capitol Guards and they followed me around and tried to intimidate me into leaving. I testified anyway at the Judiciary Committee meeting fearing I would be arrested on my way to my vehicle. Should victims of Connecticut corrupt police, courts, and officials, be put on a Connecticut State Police "Enemies List" for a take down?

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Telling the Town Selectman/Police Chief to go 'F' himself- PRICELESS

I’m posting this open letter to you in the "Read More" section on a post with text and art regarding, "Pandora’s Box," on FreeSpeech (dot) com. I have finally discovered why things are the way they are in Stafford and why the infection of tyranny seems to be spreading as a disease to the rest of America out of Connecticut.

Let’s start to understand the American Government by looking at the beast in its smallest form, a town hall government in an average mill town USA, Stafford Springs, Connecticut.

The selectman acts as ruler and police chief. Those friendly with the Monarch or his/her family are granted free reign upon the dominion. Those wanting to have business, a home, a relationship with a significant other, custody and contact with their children, or to have any quality of life, keeping a few pennies from their hard labor, do so with the permission of the town royalty and each police officer.

The selectman, John Julian, your predecessor, told me that I should sell my rental properties on 3 and 5 Church St., Stafford Springs, CT, to somebody more important, one of his friends, at a huge financial loss where I’d have to go bankrupt to sell at that ridiculous offer, or I could have some real problems and that I should come to him and make the deal before I had "problems".

Julian also told me the way to keep niggers and spics out of Stafford was too squeeze landlords and other businesses that houses them and gave them comfort. John was angry about ‘spic food’ being sold at the Stafford Food Center and whenever ‘Nigger Drug Dealers’ went into the Arizona Restaurant or were seen downtown.

David Hayes, a known drug dealer, openly sold drugs in front of John Julian’s law office for possibly over a decade, even holding up traffic on the major RT 190 through town. Money and cash were exchanged in full view. It was rumored that drugs from David Hayes were used to get Julian high and to get various mistresses to perform sex acts on Julian. David Hayes allegedly got vocal about that fact and is now doing 15 years in prison.

I recall Stafford Police Officer John Desso and other Stafford Officers beating the crap and kicking the shit out of Brian Caldwell while he was in handcuffs. I was a founding member of the Stafford Crime Watch and walked upon the officers in the center of town. I was asked for my license while being pushed around and roughly handled by the officers to see if I would fight back, as I told them I was a on the Crime Watch, and they asked me what I had seen afraid I would report them. Caldwell is a known Connecticut State Police Informant, alcoholic, violent criminal, drug user so no charges were filed against Caldwell for "Assaulting a Police Officer."

Mr. Frassinelli, I understand you were a liaison to legislators, were you the past liaison to elected officials for the Connecticut Police?

Mr. Frassinelli, it seems you knew who I was when I tried to speak at a public forum for the public to speak at a Town Hall meeting and you rudely interrupted me and tried to deny my Free Speech at the public forum, and you were so rude and out of line that you got ink in on the Front Page of the Journal Inquirer for being such a horse's ass. If you can be such a jerk publicly, I can't imagine what you are capable of behind the scenes. Do you intend on becoming the liaison to elected officials for Connecticut Police again?

I found out I was being investigated by the Connecticut State Police, using an undercover informant, allowing drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine to be sold near and off my property with dealers and customers not getting busted until my property could be seized and that of two bar owners that did not eat lunch and play cards with Stafford First Selectman, John Julian. Teen prostitutes and their missing teeth tattooed older counterparts openly plied their trade and seemed overly friendly with police officers.

Try Googling "Good Ole Boy Network" without quotes for more of the informant story.

I didn’t think Police Officers should be able to commit crimes, file false reports, harass, threaten, and terrorize residents based on what corruption they exposed, what they wrote printed in newspapers, what they owned that someone ‘more important wanted’, dated someone ‘more important’ wanted to date or screw, proposed legislation to elected officials that police didn’t like, or just simply was a minority or other person that didn’t have a grandfather in the local cemetery that rising up the ranks in status and cash.

I proposed Civilian Oversight of Police to keep Stafford and other Connecticut cities and towns from being run like they were under a Mafia Don’s control. I also was sickened at the young girls being raped by older parasite, common criminal drug dealers, about kids getting addicted, being vandals, and starting out in crime and prostitution right in front of police that seem to help the process along for revenue collection, property and asset confiscation, sexual gratification, and in setting up innocent citizens for a fall when they get in the way.

Representative Modasky’s aid Rosemarie told me I should sell my property and leave Connecticut before it was too late after I had told her that I had proposed Civilian Oversight of Police, and been critical of police and the courts in newspapers, and had told her that I intended to sue Police for violating my 14th Amendment Rights having been denied equal protection and service because I was a landlord, lived downtown, and had no political juice.

Brian Caldwell attacked me on my property when I returned home from a long day of work. Connecticut State Police Troopers Amaral and Langlais were there to arrest me, refused to arrest Caldwell, refused to take tenant statements that Caldwell had been threatening me, stalking me, and told them he would kill me when I arrived home, and then committed perjury regarding whether or not I tried to have Caldwell arrested at a Kangaroo trial.

I got a year in prison, 3 years probation for having used pepper spray to end the beating I was taking, and was convicted of ‘overreacting’ to be beaten during a robbery attempt on my own property. Self-defense isn’t legal so Caldwell was given immunity for his serious crimes to maliciously prosecute me to prevent me from Free Speech and in proposing laws to make police act in the public’s best interest, protecting and serving all, equally.

Stafford Officer Desso is also the Lt of the Guards at Bergin CI prison in Storrs, CT. Desso illegally opened and read my legal mail to see if I was going after police that had committed crimes, left me to suffer in cold winds for hours on a prison loading dock in the middle of winter, mocked and verbally degraded me, told me I wasn’t allowed in Stafford when I was released, and told my parole officer Eric Ellison to abuse me and keep me from contacting reporters and complaining about police officers threatened with 3 to 5 more years of prison if I exposed the crimes of officials that railroaded me to prison on perjury and illegal collusion.

Angela K., of Manchester, Connecticut, Adult Probation, told me that I could spend another 3 to 5 years in prison if I did not leave Connecticut, be packed up and out within the hour. I was told if Massachusetts didn’t accept my probation transfer I would spend years in prison. What!!!???

Frassinelli, Fuck you and Eat shit.

I emailed former Governor John G. Rowland and Connecticut State Police Commissioner Arthur L. Spada my suggestion that they Eat Shit and go Fuck themselves on the Internet when each was still in office.

I spent 100’s of thousands of dollars fixing up boarded up properties in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, after years of saving, paying bills on time, paying taxes, maintaining credit, and I get thrown in prison losing everything as a result. Brian Caldwell, Stafford prostitutes, drug dealers, common criminal parasites, town hall, police, and others all had a big laugh.Well, assholes, I warning all that I can of Stafford and Connecticut Nightmare Trap of immorality and sleaze.

Stafford used to be America’s first Spa health healing natural springs resort, bed and breakfast, gambling prostitution and vice Mecca.

I am on probation and will end up in prison for any vague or made up violation and I feel I went to prison for having a ‘Big Mouth’ and for proposing Civilian Oversight of Police. All that I know that have proposed Civilian oversight of Police ended up being stalked. Try googling Ritt Goldstein or Don Christmas with my name and see what comes out.

So Dickhead, Frassinelli, do you have the juice to initiate me being railroaded to prison again. I was label a snitch to guards and inmates and took my first shower after processing a week later with 9 African Americans that spent as much as 23 hours chained down in a cell alone with bright lights on them all the time, and the one Hispanic guard took off to leave me alone with them. What type of crap were you all trying to pull?

I am 100 time more a pain in the ass exercising Free Speech and trying to get some of you shithead official criminals prosecuted and I am still trying to get what you maniacal assholes can’t stand, Civilian Oversight to make sure Connecticut’s police, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, and other elected and unelected officials are acting in the public’s best interested, lawfully, ethically, Constitutionally, and to see that complaints against officials are taken, thorough, and that transgressors are punished not the whistleblower or the public that are in the way.

If you want to have me arrested for typing this letter, emailing it, and posting it to see what a complete asshole dickhead you are, email me and I’ll turn myself in. You can warn all your friends to bring their blankets, bats, and rope.

P.S. I was told by police I wasn’t allowed downtown if I wasn’t an alcoholic or drug addict I wasn’t allowed downtown and I could be arrested for ‘interfering with police’ reporting crimes, drug activiting, vandalism etc. if there was a revenue collection and asset and property confiscation scheme being hatch by the Connecticut’s Armed Revenue Collectors, or should I use the term, "Police"?

Peter Coukos told me he was using crack cocaine with alleged HIV Stafford Springs prostitute Vicky Tamaro. So that is how I found out that alleged prostitute, Vicky Tamaro, that had moved into my apartments without permission and was turning tricks and using and selling crack cocaine. Peter Coukos is alleged to have attended Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous to try to kick his cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, and abuse of prescription medications.

Coukos allegedly was playing bumper cars smashing into an African American woman in a drunken road rage incidents over miles of public roads.

I saw Vicky Tomaro on her knees giving ‘Juan, the drug dealer’ a blowjob in an alley on W. Main St., Stafford Springs with her on her knees, Juan’s shirt open as he used a torch to light a substance in a glass smoking pipe.

Peter Coukos bought the properties I was forced out of at a bargain basement price. Police Stafford Police Officer Prochaska and Connecticut State Resident Trooper allegedly offered Coukos help getting a pistol permit to carry for sexually harassing and threatening my daughter and terrorizing me out of Stafford. I played the recorded voicemail of Coukos telling my daughter that she was dead if she didn’t come to him and call him Mr. Coukos and left 40 or so messages threatening me. I was told by Trooper Mulcahey that if I didn’t leave Connecticut and if I tried to pursue charges against Coukos, I’d be arrested, not Coukos.

Is it Connecticut policy to give gun permits to alcoholic, drug addict, sociopathic, psychopaths that help retaliate against whistleblowers or those proposing Civilian Oversight of Police to elected officials?

Imagine if someone started punching you, and you couldn’t fight back for fear of another arrest and someone asked you to tell your daughter to give the guy a blowjob as I had to endure.Peter Coukos asked Ed Whipple (?) formerly of apt 6, 103 W. Main St., $100 for Amanda F., and underage girl to have sex with him, also paying Amanda $100 for sex.

After Peter Coukos told me that Stafford Officer Prochaska and Trooper Mulcahey had given him immunity suggesting he torment me out of Connecticut, he told me he wouldn’t make a false allegation against me and wouldn’t try to extort $30,000 out of me after the sale of the properties to bring him to a foreign country, as I have been oversees, to find him 6 to 9 year olds to have sex with. Pete told me that he wanted me to arrange a trip quick as the cops had told him I was going to prison before the trial even happened.

I’ll take a lie detector test against anyone I have named here or any of my posts regarding any information or allegation presented that I have ever written if it pertains to the allegations.

If you officials cover up this kind of illegal behavior and antics to retaliate against whistleblowers and those that expect to get actual value, protection and service for their tax dollars and that you officials act as advertised should sell their houses, quit their Connecticut jobs, and move to a more American State that isn’t so immoral and Satanic.

I lost 100’s of thousands of dollars, years of my hard labor, my family, the $60,000 my father lent me, my daughter’s trip to Paris with my 100,000 plus Amex points, contact with most family, friends, and business associates, my retirment, my credit, my home, my health insurance, my clean records, the rights I thought I had as an American, and completely have lost respect for Connecticut authorities and police- OBVIOUSLY!

I didn’t get prison and all the abuse for pepper spraying a violent criminal that attacked me in my dark driveway, I got it for testing Free Speech in Connecticut, and for proposing Civilian Oversight of Police to elected officials.

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...

There are other names in the "Black Squad," like Fred Briger and others. Wheeler is another. Davoren and that generation were the ones sent out to fix the problems with citizens. The Enemies list was something unsaid, it was just dealt with. The same names are involved with just about all the political activist and pesky citizens that needed to be taken out.

5 Comments:

Editor's note: The Associated Press reported on March 3, 2006, that the state of Connecticut had agreed to a $450,000 out-of-court settlement with Trooper Mark Lauretano of Salisbury, ending a First Amendment case that began in 1999.

HARTFORD, Conn.— A state police policy restricting troopers from talking to the news media is unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Dominic J. Squatrito ruled on Oct. 1 that the agency's administrative and operations manual violates a trooper's constitutional right to free speech. He forbade state police from preventing employees from speaking on matters of public concern.

"When you take an oath of office to become a state trooper, you do not give up your constitutional rights, especially the right to free speech," state police union President David LeBlanc said after the ruling. "What the impact will be down the road is that all police officers will feel more at ease to speak out as citizens."

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose office defended state police administrators in the case, said the decision would be reviewed "carefully and comprehensively to determine whether an appeal is appropriate."

State police have begun an internal affairs investigation into a racially offensive video and still photograph that were e-mailed several months ago among troopers assigned to the state police forensic laboratory, including to its commander.

One e-mail shows a still photograph of a black man lying on the street surrounded by watermelon rinds and chicken bones. The headline on the e-mail read "fatal overdose?" Another e-mail had a video attachment of a tow-headed white girl with a lisp, who sat at her kitchen table in a yellow shirt and spewed hateful racial slurs with the encouragement of two adults. The subject line simply says: "Little girl with a speech problem."

Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III Tuesday called the e-mails "unacceptable intolerance" and ordered an internal affairs investigation into the e-mails minutes after he learned of them.

"We are going to act on it," Danaher said, adding that it makes no difference that the e-mails were sent on personal computers. "Troopers are expected to behave as troopers 24 hours a day."

The e-mails that surfaced Tuesday added fuel, his supporters say, to allegations by Sgt. Andrew Crumbie, the former Public Safety Commissioner Leonard Boyle's chief of staff, who claimed he was replaced by Lt. David Rice, who is white, to direct the lab because of racial discrimination.

The e-mails were sent to Rice, other troopers and employees of the forensic laboratory and the computer crimes unit on their personal e-mail addresses by another trooper in February, the week after Crumbie was removed from his position as the lab's director.

In June, Crumbie filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, saying derogatory words were used about his race by high-ranking state police officers. He also said the state police had a history of unfavorable treatment of minorities.

"The sad part is I am not surprised," Crumbie, who is currently on medical leave, said Tuesday of the e-mails. "This is essentially what my complaint says."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell's office was informed of the investigation, said Christopher Cooper, a Rell spokesman. "The governor is confident that Commissioner Danaher takes these allegations seriously and will investigate them fully and appropriately," Cooper said.

Kathleen Eldergill, an attorney who represents Crumbie, said the e-mails "are evidence that supports the allegations of racism in Andrew's complaint."

"This is just proof that the attitude he complained about exists," Eldergill said. "Either everyone who was sent the e-mail approved of it or everyone who got it [said nothing] because they were afraid of being retaliated against."

Among the four troopers who received the e-mails on Feb. 19 was Trooper Neverill Coleman, who is black and works at the lab. He decided this week to tell his supervisor, who is white, about the e-mails; it was not clear why he waited five months. Coleman's supervisor told Rice, who immediately informed top state police commanders of the complaint, Danaher said.

The video e-mail was apparently sent by Trooper Brian Beshara, who works in the division of scientific services for the state police. He could not be reached Tuesday for comment. The still picture was sent to Beshara by another person who does not work at the department, state troopers and lab employees said.

Danaher said he has no evidence that Rice ever opened the e-mails or whether he even received them. "We have no evidence that he knew what was in those e-mails," Danaher said.

The day after Crumbie was demoted in February, he found his photograph, which had hung in the lobby of the laboratory along with other members of command staff, placed on the men's bathroom wall above the urinal, according to his complaint. No one has ever been disciplined in that case; it is an open investigation, state police said.

Crumbie, however, is alleging in an internal affairs complaint filed Tuesday that Rice put the picture in the bathroom.

"I have recently come into, what I believe to be credible information, that the person responsible for perpetrating this act was Lt. David Rice," Crumbie wrote in the complaint sent to the state police. Danaher said there is no evidence that Rice put the photograph there.

Danaher said he has already taken several actions to ease fears that there is racism within the department, including meeting regularly with black trooper organizations and sending a strong message to troopers that racism will not be tolerated.

"I'm reaching out wherever I can," he said. "Intolerance or disparate treatment based on race or anything else won't be accepted."

Dawne Westbrook, an attorney for the NAACP, said she is compiling evidence at the request of the federal Department of Justice for an investigation into complaints of racism by the state police.

"This says to me that racism is alive and well at the Department of Public Safety," Westbrook said of the e-mails.

A principal whistleblower in the state police internal affairs investigation was harassed, retaliated against and ostracized by high-ranking managers because of his claims against the agency, according to a report released Wednesday.

The 21-page report on Sgt. Andrew Matthews, released Wednesday by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office, followed by a federal lawsuit filed an hour later, accuses top state police managers of retaliation, including Lt. William Padgorski, chief of staff for Col. Thomas Davoren; and Maj. Christopher Arciero, who now commands the department's central district. The lawsuit names former State Police Col. Edward Lynch and Blumenthal, apparently because he took months to investigate the allegations and release the final report.

Blumenthal's investigation found that not only was Matthews subjected to a hostile work environment, but he was punitively transferred around the agency, including to one location that could have put him in danger from other officers whom he had reported on.

Matthews is "an unsung and scorned hero within the Connecticut State Police who dared to speak out about corruption among his fellow officers, and was thereafter harassed, intimidated and ostracized within his department," said his attorney, Norman Pattis.

The latest round of stinging criticism for the state police will be one of the first major challenges for Commissioner John A. Danaher III, who was sworn in several months ago.

"He just received the report," said Lt. J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman. "He is going to review it in its entirety. He takes any allegations very seriously and he is going to speak to all parties involved before he makes any final decisions."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell is also reviewing the report, said Rich Harris, a Rell spokesman. "She has asked Commissioner Danaher to take a careful look at the attorney general's recommendations, and to keep her fully informed of any action he takes, and any developments that arise as a result of this report."

In the report, Blumenthal recommended that state police establish a small group of managers to work with Matthews to determine where in the agency he should work, and that any time off he incurred because he feared a hostile work environment be credited to him.

He also recommended that Podgorski and Arciero "be removed from any further involvement" with Matthews. Podgorski, who was Lynch's chief of staff, and remained in the position when Davoren took over, "has been the prime management agent in many significant personnel actions involving Sgt. Matthews," according to the report.

Blumenthal urged state police managers to follow policies that protect, not punish whistleblowers.

Matthews, who had been an investigator within the internal affairs unit, began providing Blumenthal's office with information as a whistleblower in the summer of 2005. A short time later, he received a handwritten note stating in large block letters, "Cancer."

Matthews complained to the attorney general about problems within the unit, and the practice of covering up the misconduct of fellow officers. The conduct included the commission of crimes, driving while intoxicated, family violence, and misuse of state funds.

Many of those cases were highlighted in a lengthy, highly critical report on the internal affairs unit released in December by the attorney general and the New York State Police. Some are still under internal or criminal investigation.

A short time after the department learned he had made those complaints, Matthews was transferred to a risk management unit at state police headquarters in the summer of 2005, a move that Blumenthal said occurred "with the intent to watch him."

Later, the department tried to transfer him to an office at Brainard Field, the same location where interviews were being held on criminal investigations into actions by state troopers because of Matthews' allegations. Blumenthal's investigation said that "posed a safety risk" to Matthews.

"It appears that the proposed transfer of Sgt. Matthews to Brainard Field would have exposed [him] to a hostile and possibly dangerous work environment," the report said.

He was then transferred to the mailroom adjacent to the lobby of the forensic laboratory, but was informed he could not go inside the lab.

Blumenthal said his investigation of Matthews' claims of retaliation included interviewing 18 witnesses under oath. State troopers and former Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle were among those interviewed.

Witnesses indicated that Lynch, who retired in December, referred to Matthews as "a problem child," whom he wanted to keep careful tabs on.

Blumenthal said in his report that the department should provide "Matthews with protection, respect and institutional appreciation for his acts of public service."

Pattis said he decided to name Blumenthal in his lawsuit because "he's had that complaint on his desk for at least six weeks. He kept Andy in harm's way longer."

He also said he found it too coincidental that Blumenthal released the report right after he was told a lawsuit was being filed.

Blumenthal said Matthews "must take whatever action he feels is appropriate to serve his interests."

MIDDLETOWN -- James Milardo, the fiery former chief of the city's 911 center and a political confidant of ex-Mayor Domenique Thornton, is suing the city, contending it fired him illegally and ignored his complaints about misconduct by city police officers over the years.

His federal lawsuit names Thornton and Police Chief J. Edward Brymer as defendants. The chief was served with a copy of the lawsuit on Tuesday.Milardo, 45, asserts that police officers began harassing him when he told city officials five years ago that certain officers were arranging sexual interludes with female dispatchers through the dispatch center, and had covered up information related to off-duty arrests of at least two city officers.

He doesn't identify any officers. The claims in the lawsuit are similar to comments he made in an interview with The Courant after he was arrested in September 2004 for allegedly screaming profanities at local cable TV talk-show hosts who regularly lampooned him on their show.

He pleaded guilty in January to creating a public disturbance and paid a $50 fine, though he contends the incident never happened.Milardo said in 2004: "I know of information about [off-duty officers] drawing weapons on domestic partners, about [department] computer violations, about driving under the influence of alcohol, about cops who shouldn't be cops anymore.

"Thornton said at the time that she believed Milardo had copies of dispatch tapes that he had received through an earlier freedom of information request "They may give him some knowledge that he would use for a personal lawsuit. I'm not privy to what that is," Thornton told The Courant in 2004.

Brymer declined comment on Wednesday.

Thornton, now a public-policy analyst for the Mental Health Association of Connecticut, said Wednesday that she had not been served with the lawsuit and had no comment.City Attorney Trina Soliecki did not immediately return a phone message Wednesday.

Brymer and Thornton would be represented by Soliecki's office or by outside lawyers paid for by the city.

Milardo contends that the alleged police harassment, his arrest, and a decision by the city not to let him accrue sick and vacation time while he was on personal leave, prevented him from returning to his job and was tantamount to the city retaliating against him and firing him without due process.

The city's position has been that Milardo resigned.In previous interviews and in his lawsuit, he said his ordeal with the city has caused him health problems, including high blood pressure and emotional distress, and cut his career short.

His lawsuit says he's seeking money damages, but not how much.

In late 2004, after Thornton replaced Milardo with an interim 911 center director, Milardo demanded a $250,000 settlement and lifelong health and pension benefits - a package potentially worth several million dollars. Milardo and the city tried to make a deal in January, but the discussions went nowhere.

The 911 center has been run on a permanent basis since June 2005 by Wayne Bartolotta, former chief of the South Fire District. The center handles police, fire, and emergency-medical calls in Middletown and Portland.Milardo now lives in south Florida.

He and his wife, Christine, have set up a day spa in Pembroke Pines and run a rental property business.He moved from Middletown in July after selling his Old Farms East home for $625,000 to NBA star Ray Allen.Thornton appointed Milardo in 1999 to the posts of 911 center director and head of emergency management, jobs that collectively paid him about $90,000 a year.

His brother, Michael Milardo, was also hired as deputy director of the 911 center. The Milardo brothers were regular donors to Thornton's campaigns, and James Milardo in particular was never shy about expressing in public his loyalty to Thornton. That all changed with his arrest in 2004 for allegedly hurling insults at his critics.

As police investigated that case, Milardo filed a sweeping freedom of information request aimed at city hall. He sought records of alleged domestic disputes involving officers, and of all internal Middletown police investigations for the past five years.

He also sought the personnel files of a dozen officers, and records of alleged misuse of the National Crime Information Computer, which gives police officers and dispatchers access to criminal records and warrants.At least 77 sworn officers and civilian personnel received notification that Milardo was seeking information about them.Milardo has also been the target of lawsuits.In May 2002, a federal lawsuit against the city and Milardo brought by five current and former dispatchers was settled for $400,000.

No Troopers On State Police Reform Group4:59 PM EST, December 15, 2006By TRACY GORDON FOX, The Hartford CourantCOLCHESTER -- On Gov. M. Jodi Rell's newly appointed commission to oversee the reform of the state police internal affairs unit, there is a state representative, a judge, a prosecutor, a local police chief, and even a town council member.

But there is not one state trooper on it, an omission that has angered some members of the department's union, who said they asked for the outside inquiry in the first place.

Rell announced she would form the commission on Dec. 4, the day a scathing 168-page report by the New York State Police and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was released on the state police internal affairs unit. The report outlined misconduct and improper influence in cases against troopers that involved domestic violence, sexual assaults, drunk driving and larceny.

Former Republican state Rep. Robert Farr, of West Hartford, who unsuccessfully challenged Blumenthal will chair the commission, and Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle will act as an ex-officio member. Boyle was a former federal prosecutor and East Hartford police officer.

Besides Farr and Boyle, the commission will include state Rep. Stephen Dargan, D-West Haven, Co-Chairman of the General Assembly's Public Safety Committee, Superior Court Judge Maureen Keegan of Cheshire, Glastonbury Town Council Chairwoman Susan Karp, who will serve as a member of the public, State's Attorney Walter Flanagan of Danbury, Milford Police Chief Thomas Flaherty, who is also chairman of the Police Officer Standards and Training Council of Connecticut, and former U.S. Marshal John O'Connor of West Haven.

Union President Steven Rief called it "a slap in the face," that not one of the 1155 union members was named to the commission.

"I'm extremely disappointed the union does not have a position on this commission," Rief said. "The only reason we even had the New York State Police and the attorney general's investigation is because this union came forward to the commissioner.